Thousands of young Georgians took to the streets. Though their protest was provoked by Mr Gavrilov’s visit, it was aimed at their own government, now run from behind the scenes by Mr Ivanishvili, who stepped down as prime minister in 2013 but continues to call the shots and has become chairman of Georgian Dream. Their anger was fed by the rise of anti-liberalism, the lack of an independent judiciary, a surge in crime and a return of corruption and nepotism. Violence broke out, the riot police overreacted, and the government lost its fading legitimacy. Mr Ivanishvili, who portrays himself as a saviour from Mr Saakashvili’s tyranny, is now widely despised. The government has had to apologise and offer concessions, such as changing the electoral rules in ways that will make it harder for Georgian Dream to stay in power after next year’s election.
Whereas Mr Ivanishvili backed off, Mr Putin, allergic to civil activism in any former Soviet land, hit back. Citing a need to protect Russian tourists in Georgia (though none had been hurt), he has banned direct flights to the country and put an informal embargo on Georgian wine. His propaganda machine spouts nationalist insults and gloats over Georgia’s impending loss of business from Russian tourists.
Mr Putin has two other constituencies in mind. One is Russia’s own liberals, who see Georgia as a country that has successfully reformed. The other is America, which Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, accuses of “geopolitical engineering” in the region. The Kremlin does not deem Georgia truly independent, regarding it as a card in a game for dominance in the Caucasus and around the Black Sea.
Russia’s rulers dislike the Anaklia port project, which is close to Abkhazia and only 320km (200 miles) down the Black Sea coast from Mr Putin’s residence in Sochi. The port is vital for Georgia’s independence as well as for European security. It could open the bottleneck in the land corridor through the Caucasus from China to Europe. It could also harbour American submarines. Earlier this year Mr Lavrov’s deputy, Grigory Karasin, issued a menacing ultimatum. “Tbilisi has to decide either to choose an atmosphere of regional welfare or the Euro-Atlantic agenda.” If Georgia chose the latter, it could, he warned, be faced with “unpleasant surprises” similar to those faced by Ukraine in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and invaded Eastern Ukraine.